7 Best Digital Marketing Channels For Businesses
Published November 9, 2023
With over 5.18 billion internet users worldwide in 2023, of which 4.8 billion are using social media, the world has wholly morphed digitally. With that in mind, competition has been incrementally challenging, so businesses must quickly adapt or risk becoming obsolete. While traditional marketing methods still work to some extent, these have limitations.
Undoubtedly, digital marketing’s edge would be scalability and trackability for businesses, allowing them to compete globally. However, a mix of traditional and digital marketing media benefits many brands today, with the older generation still accustomed to traditional marketing.
In this blog post, we will explore how the seven top digital marketing channels can help your business generate massive leads and increase sales on an impactful scale.
What is Digital Marketing for Business?
Digital marketing for business should lean into the market’s desire. It’s not about what you want but what the market wants. It’s all about tuning into human desire. You cannot go against that. The tricky part about human desire is that it is constantly changing.
According to a new market study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA), global digital marketing and advertising can reach $786.2 billion by 2026. With digital marketing, you can easily tune in to the desires of your target market by using online channels or social media platforms and technologies to promote your products and services. In the digital landscape, you can speedily cast a wide net and reach your target audience wherever they are.
Let’s dive into the seven best digital marketing channels for businesses that will equip you with the winning edge against the competition:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Did you know that 68% of customer experiences start with using a search engine? SEO is crucial to ensure that your website ranks higher and appears on the first page of search engine results. What does it mean for your business? You gain more visibility and will be in front of your target market.
For instance, when you do a Google search for “best smartphones,” the top results will be dictated by SEO. Best SEO practices when you search Google for a particular keyword, and the top results will always reveal the most trustworthy and relevant sites.
In that case, when you search for those keywords, giant brands like Samsung and Apple will be at the top of the search engine results.
SEO refers to implementing on-page optimization, creating more intelligent and high-quality content, improving structure, and adopting link-building strategies. Businesses should understand that appearing on the first page of Google and other search engine results pages is mission-critical to attract more traffic or be discoverable.
Email Marketing
Around 89% of marketers in 2023 still see email marketing as the top channel to reach their customers. This still reigns on top of social media marketing, SEO, and others, so your business should tap into this as your primary marketing channel.
Email marketing is coined to be twice as effective compared to other marketing channels like PPC, SMM, or SEO as 77% of B2B customers still prefer to receive marketing or sales information via emails.
Email marketing refers to sending emails to nurture your leads to convert your list into paying customers. For instance, Amazon’s marketing strategy is sending personalized emails curated from your buyer behavior or data to increase sales. Emails would include recommendations of products relevant to your customers or products your customers would most likely be interested in.
Email marketing is said to guarantee or maximize ROI for your business. You need to dive in deep to understand your target audience and personalize. You cannot do generic emails and expect massive conversations. Emails must be strategic and should be tailored to your customers. Email marketing can also be automated based on certain buying behaviors or triggers so your messages are sent out at the right times.
Content Marketing
Content marketing in 2023 focuses on the frequency of posting and quality of content. Further, it’s exciting to discover that 69% of businesses plan to increase their budget this year.
Content marketing aims to create high-quality, relevant, valuable, consistent content to nurture and warm your target audience. The content can be entertaining, informative, promotional, or anything that helps your audience get to know your business.
Airbnb’s content marketing strategy focuses on leveraging user-generated content. With UGC, Airbnb personalizes the customer journey and allows potential customers to connect more deeply with the brand. With UGC, hosts and guests are encouraged to share their experiences with Airbnb online or on social media, establishing brand trust, loyalty, and a sense of community.
Content marketing is creating content that addresses the pain points of your target audience in the form of ebooks, videos, blogs, webinars, podcasts, and the like. Being consistent in posting content will help you with brand visibility and also in attracting and retaining loyal customers.
Social Media Marketing
According to Statista, the number of social media users can balloon up to roughly 6 billion in 2027. Social media marketing leverages social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and the like to become more visible to their audience, increase engagement, and strengthen brand loyalty.
The goal of social media marketing now isn’t just about posting content on social media but more about creating a strong sense of community around brands.
For instance, Nike, an athletic wear brand, is centered on user-generated content, encouraging their customers to share their personal stories, celebrations, and experiences with the brand using the #JustDoIt hashtag, and storytelling strategies to increase their following and the strong emotional attachment to Nike’s brand values. They sell values celebrating personal empowerment and a healthy and active lifestyle.
With social media marketing, you can humanize your brand and make it relatable to your target audience. This digital marketing strategy allows you to show different facets of your business – the raw and authentic ones, beyond the glitz and glam of your brand.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
Did you know that PPC traffic converts way better at 50% compared to organic marketing? PPC advertising allows businesses to have their ads displayed on other websites and search engines, and then pay only when the ads are clicked.
For example, Apple uses aesthetic and modern PPC ads when launching new products. They heavily invest in PPC ads and have teasers to create buzz or excitement around their new products. They also have strategic call-to-action buttons in place encouraging customers to either visit the nearest Apple store or pre-order.
PPC advertising is very effective because it is highly targeted and most customers who click these ads are ready to purchase.
Influencer Marketing
Around 93% of marketers in 2023 have tapped into the power of influencer marketing. And why not? Many customers are now heavily influenced by popular influencers in their purchase decisions. 61% of consumers trust product recommendations that come from their favorite influencers.
Influencer marketing is when your business partners with specific influencers aligned with your brand with a large and heavily engaged following on social media that can help you promote your products and services. This gives you more platforms or audiences to tap into.
Nike, in particular, uses influencer marketing in promoting their products. They love collaborating with famous athletes such as Serena Willian and LeBron James who happily endorse their lineup of sports apparel. Nike’s influencers are chosen because they align with Nike’s values of excellence and embracing an active lifestyle.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is at an all-time high now. Around 91% of businesses heavily invest and use video marketing stating that the strategy gives them a positive ROI. This proves that video marketing should be in your marketing arsenal to connect better and impact your audience.
Dove is one example of a brand that loves video marketing. Dove invests in emotionally impactful videos like its “Real Beauty” campaign that have become viral with its messaging focused on breaking stereotypes about beauty. Dove marketing campaigns connect to their audience by using video content displaying social causes or issues to prove a point about championing the meaning of real beauty.
Marketing Set to Make a Positive Impact
What are marketing channels? Creating a powerhouse marketing campaign entails knowing and understanding your audience. Your marketing isn’t about how great your brand is but focused on creating a campaign that is heavily set on the needs, desires, and pain points of your customers.
Thriving in the digital age requires brands to make deep and genuine connections, spark meaningful conversations, and leave a lasting or memorable impact on their target audience using digital channels.
Mastery of the best digital marketing channels above will help your business adapt, evolve, and pivot even if the digital landscape changes rapidly – to get the word out about your business so your message will not just be heard but create a positive impact.
Hire The Digital Marketing Experts
We take online businesses and turn them into online empires by employing smart digital marketing strategies. Our team of experts are trained in a myriad of marketing skill including SEO to help you rank higher in search results, and ad management to ensure your message gets seen by the people you want. Need a business website that attracts business? We also specialize in website design and online sales optimization to help your business grow like never before.
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About The Author
Judy Ponio is a professional writer and SEO specialist based in the Philippines. She works hard to cross check reputable sources to ensure her work uses accurate facts. She is the lead author for several prominent websites covering a variety of topics including law, health, nutrition, and more.
